


We Could Be Heroes

by Prentice



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bad Guy Guilt, Gen, Guilt, Peter Parker is sunshine, So slight AU it's barely there, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 03:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19737325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prentice/pseuds/Prentice
Summary: Quentin liked the boy despite himself.





	We Could Be Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> Written during a 'sprint' on the 'Just Write' server on Discord. :)

If he was being honest, Quentin liked the boy despite himself. He hadn’t wanted to; any protege of Stark’s was sure to be as much of a grandstanding pain-in-the-ass as the man himself had been, and Quentin had had to brace himself for the inevitable showboating. Had, in fact, clamped down on the irritation and anger that swam inside his head at the mere mention of anything to do with Stark lest he showed his hand.

Only…

Peter Parker was nothing at all like Quentin expected him to be. Nothing _at all_ like he’d been _told_ he’d be. In fact, he was so far from what he was ready for that Quentin half-expected this to be some sort of joke because surely this boy - this _child_ \- couldn’t be the one that was going to inherit the keys to Stark’s kingdom. There had to be some sort of mistake. Some sort of colossal miscommunication.

Because, the kid, he was _sweet_ for chrissake. Not to mention surprisingly innocent and painfully naive. He was _trusting_ , even; his pretty brown eyes wide as Quentin settled down beside him and fed him line after line of seemingly heroic _bullshit_ like some tragic fucking hero torn from the pages of a comic book.

It was almost…

For fuck’s sake, it was almost enough to make Quentin feel guilty.

_Guilty_!

Like what they were doing - what _he_ was doing - was somehow wrong, despite everything Stark had done to him. It was - god, it was ridiculous. Stupid. _Infuriating_.

The kid - the boy - _Stark_ _’s_ _protege_ \- had no idea what it was like to have your life’s work ripped from your hands and twisted into something you didn’t even recognize. He had no idea what it was like to be looked down on and ridiculed because the great Tony Stark didn’t think you were good enough. He had no idea, not like Quentin did. Not like they _all_ did.

Even so, Quentin found himself - _Jesus Christ_ , he found himself actually wanting - actually _wishing_ \- that he could be the kind of hero that the kid obviously thought he was. Could be the kind of _person_ that the kid thought he was. If only for a few minutes. A few seconds.

Because there was something about Peter Parker that made him want to be…better.

And Quentin couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, that was Stark’s last and cruelest act of all: putting a boy like Peter into the path of a man like Quentin, knowing that neither could measure up to what the other wanted them to be.

No matter how much they – _he_ – wished it.


End file.
